Cheat Sheets

A popular and adventurous genre on Gamestar Mechanic, the platformer-shooter is a type of game in which the avatar jumps and frags opponents. This game type is interesting because it can simulate intense[more…]

The racing game is a more specific category of game on Gamestar Mechanic, but designers have found a lot of ways to apply and improve on the genre. Racing games require the player to navigate a course[more…]

The toolbox is a game design engine on Gamestar Mechanic that allows you to build great games and add sprites quickly. After you become familiar with its simple format, you can immediately start designing[more…]

The toolbox is a game design engine on Gamestar Mechanic that allows you to edit and move sprites in your game. Once you have become familiar with its simple format, you can start designing your own great[more…]

As a Gamestar Mechanic designer, sometimes you may want to use a large number of the same sprite to create a line of turrets or a maze of blocks or whatever else. Simply placing the sprites in the right[more…]

If you want to change options that affect your entire Gamestar Mechanic game, click the Settings button under the name of your game, at the top of the sidebar. The button opens the Game Settings dialog[more…]

The first screen you see after you log in to your account is the lobby, which is the hub for Gamestar Mechanic users. The upper-left corner of the lobby contains the news feed, which provides news about[more…]

The story on Gamestar Mechanic is divided into multiple Quests to help you master your gaming skills— however, if you don’t have a Premium account, you will be automatically directed to the first one.[more…]

By selecting your Gamestar Mechanic game from the My Published Games section of your workshop, you can see the player page for your game. This is exactly like the player page: You can see reviews and comments[more…]

Enemies are often the most complex sprites in the game because you (the designer) must edit them on Gamestar Mechanic to function as effectively as possible, without the player’s control. Before choosing[more…]

System sprites are essential to building complex games on Gamestar Mechanic, and only a few types of sprites can control the style and feel of a game. To create a game that functions exactly how you want[more…]

In Gamestar Mechanic, reviews and comments are displayed beneath the game screen while you’re playing a game. Here are some tips for how to use the review interface as well as leave your own reviews or[more…]

The abbreviation XP is short for experience points. In Gamestar Mechanic, you gain XP by performing certain actions on the site, such as publishing your games or leaving helpful reviews on games published[more…]

In addition to Mechanic Ranks, you can improve your persona on Gamestar Mechanic by obtaining badges, which track your achievements on the site. If you look in your workshop, you see two boxes labeled[more…]

A challenge is a special task that appears in the Challenges & Contests section of your Gamestar Mechanicworkshop. Challenges are similar to Quest episodes in that they may require you to play, repair,[more…]

If a user is doing something unacceptable on the site, whether by way of a game, a review, or a comment, you can report that person. This action sends a message to the site administrators and calls attention[more…]

When you draw inspiration from other users’ games in Gamestar Mechanic, make sure you don't plagiarize their content. Plagiarism is a serious offense that you should always avoid. Normally, people can[more…]

In Gamestar Mechanic, if you use unique content created by someone else, whether or not you add your own modifications to it, you should provide a citation to it — don't explicitly try to pass it off as[more…]

If you don’t want to wait for people to play your games in Gamestar Mechanic, you have the tools to take matters into your own hands. Here are some tips to help you understand how to gain potential players[more…]

Sharing your games with non–Gamestar Mechanic players has several advantages. Depending on the sort of communications system you use, the benefits of publicizing in this way can range from sharing with[more…]

Gamestar Mechanicoffers you a number of methods for sharing stand-alone versions of your games. You can see your options in the sidebar on the right side of the game’s page. By using the buttons there,[more…]

If a number of people regularly play any new games that you publish in Gamestar Mechanic, your games will become much more reliably popular. To develop this player base, you must convince players that[more…]